Anisotropic physical properties of SC-15 epoxy reinforced with magnetic nanofillers under uniform magnetic field

SC-15 epoxy is used in many industrial applications and it is well known that the mechanical and viscoelastic properties of epoxy can be significantly enhanced when reinforced with nanofillers. In this work, SC-15 epoxy is reinforced by loading with magnetically-active nanofillers and cured in a modest magnetic field. Because of the significant magnetic response of the nanofillers, this is a low cost and relatively easy technique for imposing a strong magnetic anisotropy to the system without the need of a superconducting magnet. It is also found that this method is an effective way of enhancing the mechanical properties of epoxy.;Three systems were prepared and studied. The first is a dilute system of various concentrations of Fe2O3 nanoparticles in SC-15 epoxy. The second systems is a combination of Fe2O3 nanoparticles and chemically-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT(COOH)s) in SC-15 epoxy. The third is a dilute system of SWCNT(COOH)s decorated with Fe3O4 particles through a sonochemical oxidation process in SC-15 epoxy. Samples have an initial cure of 6 hrs in a magnetic filed of 10 kOe followed by an additional 24 hrs of post curing at room temperature. These are compared to the control samples that do not have initial field curing.;Tensile and compressive stress-strain analysis of the prepared systems shows that mechanical properties such as tensile strength, tensile modulus and compressive strength are enhanced with the inclusion of these nanofillers. It is also found that there is an anisotropic enhancement of these properties with respect to the imposed curing field. An interesting phenomenon is observed with the increase in modulus of toughness and fracture strain with nanotube inclusion. These parameters are drastically enhanced after curing the systems in a magnetic field. While there is a modest shift in glass transition temperature during viscoelastic analysis, the thermal stability of the created systems is not compromised. Results of these mechanical enhancements will be compared with other nanoloading techniques from literature.